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Thursday, 1 December 2011

I've been tagged! At first I was so excited and pleased to have been tagged and then I turned chicken and was daunted by the whole thing, well, I've put it off long enough, so here goes. Oh, by the way, this was started by Susan from A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate who tagged five bloggers, who in turn tagged five more and so on, I've been tagged by Jude from A Trifle Rushed - thank you Jude :-)

What or who inspired you to start a blog?

Difficult to say really, I've been reading blogs for a couple of years, but it wasn't until I thought about writing a book that I decided writing a blog would be good experience and would also be a way of knowing whether I could write and whether anyone would find it interesting.

Who is your foodie inspiration?

There are a few - Delia, Nigella, Tamasin (Day-Lewis), Nigel (Slater) and Vanessa Kimbell - she has managed to achieve with her book what I am still day dreaming about!

Your greatest, batter-splattered food/drink book is?

It used to be Delia's Complete Cookery Course, but was overtaken by Nigella's How to Eat, although I have to admit Delia's book is still like a kitchen encyclopaedia in that you can turn to it to find out how to cook something you've never cooked before (I'm thinking vegetables here really). But I also use Tamasin Day Lewis's Kitchen Bible quite a lot.

Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what as it?

This is a difficult question, because the simple answer is "I don't know - nothing stands out", however, I would say that the first time I tasted a Pavlova in Australia in the 1970's could possibly be it. I had never tasted Pavlova before and was so surprised and delighted with it with it's drizzling of passionfruit (another new food at the time) I had to have a second helping!

Another food blogger's table you'd like to eat at is?

Well I could say my sister's table (Magnolia Verandah) but I know her food and know I love eating at her table so if I choose someone whose table I haven't eaten at it would be Jude's from A Trifle Rushed.

What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

Well, money no object would be a Kitchen Aid mixer or failing that a Kenwood K-Mix or failing that some new bowls for my existing Kenwood Chef which has been handed down to me by my mother - the bowl is so heavy I'm sure a metal bowl would be much lighter.

Who taught you to cook?

What's the expresssion "it takes a whole village to bring up a child"? I'm sure I've got that wrong but can't think what the exact expression is.

I would say initially my mother, although she was rather keen on helpers only in the kitchen - she wasn't very keen to hand over the reins so much of what I learnt was by stirring when told to, spooning when told to etc. Then I would say to some extent I taught myself by collecting and reading cookery magazines and books and experimenting, then I would say my Turkish sister-in-law has taught me quite a lot of turkish dishes plus I devour cookery programmes on the television - so, lots of people taught me is the short answer!

I'm coming to you for dinner, what's your signature dish?

I like to make dinner as easy as possible when I have guests, I don't want to be stressed out in the kitchen I want to be able to talk and drink along with everyone else, so I would opt for either a roast Chicken with rice (turkish style) and salad or chicken thighs cooked in the oven with red peppers and onions, sprinkled with olive oil, thyme and pepper, again with rice and salad - it's easy and very tasty. Of course for frequent guests I'll be more adventurous.

What is your guilty food pleasure?

Where to start? Every so often when I'm paying for petrol I will peruse the chocolate counter and buy a fudge bar, I don't know what it is about them that I love so much, but I do. I could also destroy a large bowl of custard all by myself and it can be from a carton too - I'm not fussy!!

Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn.

I'm a bit unsure of this one - should it be something other bloggers don't know about me or something no-one at all would know, hmmm? I'll go for bloggers I think, the other option might seem more like confession time and I don't want to lose readers before I've gained them ................... only joking I don't have anything to confess here. So, I would say, I went to live in Australia when I was 18, and was planning to stay for three months - two and a half years later I came home, only to return after a year (and gaining my permanent residence visa) - stayed for another two years or so, came home for a year, went back and finally came home in December 1988 - have only returned for a holiday since then. I miss it though.

So, finally finished and I have to tag five other food bloggers with these questions ............. like a hot potato ............ pass it on! They in turn must tag five more food bloggers. So here they are:

Thank you for tagging me Jennifer, not sure if I will have the time though, a bit too busy these days, just did the 7 links on the blog, and I have just finished answering a questionnaire similar to this for a magazine, so I should probably avoid answering the same question on my blog (the magazine editor's may not be impress)!

It was fun reading your answers, I especially liked the "it takes a whole village to bring up a child" comment!